We all love closure and especially when it ends well.
Mustang is back from the shop. Buying the control arms ahead time saved a few dollars. HINT: If you know you need a part, but not right away, but you have the funds (too many buts???) look for a sale. I’m continually sent emails with discounts from Mustang parts places. I purchased these on an email and got free shipping. What I didn’t have was the spring perches. Luckily I found them at a local place that specializes in muscle cars and in particular Mustangs. They ran about $80 for the pair.
While they had a part I splurged for a set of shocks…no labor because they had it apart already. (Hint: More savings!!)
So I drove over to pick it up and drive it around the corner to the tire place and got two new tires tossed on. I can’t believe the difference the new front end makes. Took it out for a drive. This car is nearly done.
Side note: I’m enjoying this Blogging thing. Although we are light on the comments..Mr. Sears is always helping out there, it’s good fun.
Got to give a shout out to a loyal reader…HEY PDAWG!!! Get me that pic of your garage!!!!
Well the news was pretty good. Since I had the control arms already, I was only missing the spring seats (sometimes called perches) and a new set of shocks and I’m good to go – Labor $300.00 I was thinking much worse.
Tim Sisk asked when I was going to sell the car to him. I laughed..he laughed and I said..HOW MUCH??? He laughed some more.
Need to pick up the parts Monday and get some new tires. Good to go.
The joys of owning a classic muscle car are numberous. Restoring one takes some planning and forethought. errkkk……….having said that..it doesn’t take a genus to know that a 40-year-old car with nearly 200k miles on the body/frame and suspension might need stuff.
Well the tire problem I discovered was the direct cause of defective tire and serious wear (they aren’t that old). The wear is a bit disturbing because of the limited miles I’ve driven it.
About 10 months ago I started feeling the typical sloppiness that a front gives you when it needs some attention. So I ordered upper and lower control arms, which wasn’t a budget buster, mainly because I’d planned on install them myself (labor is will kill the budget). I stuck them away until I had time. Well doing a little research I realized that for this Mustang I didn’t have the tools get the job done so I delayed it a bit longer.
I drive the Mustang to work a couple times a week (maybe) and on the weekend run errands. So the front had to be much worse to do that much wear in those miles. I took it over a fellow Mustang owners shop (actually we recently sold it Mustang so he’s Stangless right now).
eeeeerrrrrrrrrrrkkk…………ok I have to say that this guy is partner/manager for a “chain” auto repair company. I won’t say which one because, I normally won’t take my cars to such establishments. But I met Tim Sisk 3 years ago when I needed a quick oil change on the Mustang and I stopped in. We talked about Mustangs and I found him to be extremely knowledgable. So I had them to a few things for me. It worked out great and now when I can’t do something on my own with Mustang and even a few on the Corvette I’ll take it there. Another benefit is that the place is two miles up the road.
I tossed the upper and lower control arms in the trunk and took the Mustang there this morning. We put it up on the lift and sure enough the control arms needed to be replaced. I’m sure there will be a few more things I’ll need and most likely they’ll have to be ordered and if I can swing a good deal on the labor I’ll have some shocks put on as well.
So standby for the $$$$. I’ll post it when I get the news.
Oh..there are lots places to get Mustang parts. I happened to pick up the control arms from WSD. Worldwide Suspension Distribution LLC.
Money, cash, coin, bucks, what ever you call it’s the 900 lbs monkey sitting in the passenger seat right next to you!!!!
This can be tough. Us average guys, have to “pinch pennies until Lincoln calls the cops”. Even then there is a lot of …free time..between mod or new parts. Am I right? You betcha.
You’ve heard the stories, that start out…”Yeah..and to sell her.” or “Got a family started.” or “Had to move and no place for the car.”
I wonder about the guys that say…”I have too many projects.” I’m thinking 40% of them ran out of money and then ‘honey’ said that it has got to go.
I don’t have a direct solution for your money problems and I won’t tell you anything you don’t know or haven’t already read about. What I will say is take your time. Work on it as often as possible, even if you are just wiping it down or cleaning a part. That way you don’t “loose” touch so to speak.
What is important is to keep track of what you spend, keep receipts, and spreadsheets are good for that. Why is it important? For a couple reason:
1. Most of us average guys are on a budget. Keep one for your car. Get prices ahead of time and match that up with your “real world budget” the one you keep to eat/pay the mortgage/utilities.
2. Investment purposes. It’s good to know how much you’ve spent. That’s a big deal if you were to…go head winch now…you know what’s coming resell.
3. Insurance – especially if it’s collector car insurance. Most will let set a value. I have this for my Mustang.
errk…..story time!!!!! When I first got the Mustang, I called my regular insurance company, told them I purchased a collectable car and I wanted to insure it. They asked me how much it cost when it was new. I said $2,984.20. The gal on the other end of the line said “Then that’s how much we’ll insure it for.” as if it were a done deal. So be careful. I use Hagerty..they are great. Remember my story about the kid that hit my Mustang….the paid for it all and kept sending checks when ever the amount went up.
Ok..more tomorrow.
Don’t forget about the Clean and Disaster Garage contest. $25.00 gift card…..hey..it’s extra money!!!!
There are basically two categories professional and average guy judging.
Now I must confess here I don’t understand the professional, there is just too much to know. I frankly don’t know how some the of the larger shows can finish the judging – especially the contours judging. Whether there are the proper pre-assembly marks and is there the proper over-spray in the right places. I suppose thats great in some respects and I guess is can see the necessity.
But I’m the average guy muscle car owner. I like what I like and being judged by average peeps is ok by me. I’d like them to have some car knowledge but it’s still not that necessary.
I found it interesting that at one of the medium size shows one guy called the Mustang a Restro-mod. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. It’s period – meaning it could have been ordered that way at the time. Only real change is the larger tires and Center Line wheels.
The latest Hemming’s Classic Car issue has interesting reading on the subject of “original/survivor cars” vs “everything else” I’ll do another post on that topic later on.
Couple of admin notes:
1. If I mention a product or a publication it’s because I have an opinion or an “experience” with it. This is a non-commercial blog. As of write now I don’t have plans to have ads embedded, click throughs or sell “stuff” .
2. Send me comments. Post them up here or email them to me timsweet@cox.net.
3. I don’t sell contact info either or send spam email. If you email me that’s as far as your info goes. I’ll even ask you if you mind having me post email contents before I do.
DON’T FOR GET THE CLEAN GARAGE/DISASTER GARAGE CONTEST. $25.00 GIFT CARD IN THE BALANCE. GET ME THE PICS.
If you recall in a previous post I mentioned the psychological hurdles that some (at least I) have to over come when working on our own cars. The one of them was the “fear” of breaking it yourself. Remember? Well ..here ya go….
It’s the end of January and I still had my x-mas lights up….so yesterday (1/24) I decided they had to come down. I didn’t want to be the guy taking them down in June (like my neighbor).
So, I pull the Vette into the lower part of the drive and then proceeded to back the Mustang down. The Mustang takes a while to warm up so instead I just release the e-brake, pushed the clutch in and coasted down the driveway.
Had a neighborhood kid in the driveway so I was keeping an eye on him (he’s 5 yrs old) and I left the door of the Stang open.
Yeah…you guessed it….I heard a crunch and I looked over to the left and there was my Mustang door (good old American steel) stuck in my Vette’s fender!!!!!
All I can say is plastic bumpers saved the day….not so much for the fiber glass fender and belt molding on the vette.
Oh..adding insult to injury the 5 yrs old said..”That’s why you need to close the door..that’s what my Dad says!”
Hagerty recently announced it has teamed-up with LeMay–America’s Car Museum to help develop a new program focusing on education on vehicle restoration. This hands-on learning program has been dubbed the “Hagerty Education Program at America’s …
The German luxury and classic car restoration website GT-A is asking EUR 1,000,000 – around $1.35 million – for the world-famous car. Before you balk, consider that 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale will be going to Paul Walker’s charity Reach …
So I left off with perhaps one of the worse fears, breaking it yourself.
Having it broken by someone else is only slightly better, YOU didn’t do it, so you can be mad at someone and chances are the signification other will lighten up, especially when they find you sobbing uncontrollably, laying on the hood your classic.
I have had that experience with my Mustang. Since kids might run across this blog I won’t use the language I might normally, when relaying this next incident.
I had just gotten the engine conversion done and I was happy. Some work on my part and fair amount of money got me to where the car had the power it needed. I’ll talk more about the modification and conversion later on. I think I had the car back for a couple months and one day…a rainy day….errk………..I live in southern Arizona ….what manner of horrible luck can you have to deserve such crappy timing? I was only a mile from home and I stopped at a red light. 10 cars in front me and as I waiting with them, I glanced in my rear view mirror. There I see a small white pick-up in the distance coming my way. As I watched, I realized that he was coming pretty fast. A nano second later I was 100% sure he wasn’t going to stop. I shoved the clutch in, dropped her in to first, cranked the steering wheel to the right, hit the gas and popped the clutch. Well, the additional power I longed for, now realized…spun the rear wheels, in what normally would have been an enjoyable manner, but right that minute I was wishing for the straight 6 again…(well..maybe not exactly). I was just able to nose the Mustang’s front end way from the car in front of me when I looked up and saw…(this was all happening in extremely slow motion – right now just playing it in my head..it seems like ten minutes at least) this white pickup starting to stop and then I felt the slam from behind. The force pushed the Mustang past the car in front of me by 3/4 of a car length. If I had not gotten the few precious inches just before the tires began spinning, I would have destroyed my 3 month old bored out 302 and all the hard work that went into the engine bay, electrical, and new AC would have been for naught.
Ok I’m going to stop here for the now. More tomorrow.
One more day until Corvette Auto X day. Taking my son with me, he’ll be grabbing some vids and pics that I’ll share.
Thanks for reading and thanks for being able to read!!!!
So restoring or modifying a car will have hurdles, no way around it; face ’em and deal with ’em. I think one could list them for days and still not cover them all. But let me cover the psychological ones that I’ve encountered. (Besides the dual persona necessary to own and own up to owning a Ford and a Chevy….oh, don’t worry, you read the multiples talk to one other…right?…whatever you say….Yes, they won’t have to read that again…we promise.)
Again, I’m sure there are many, but one by one, I’ll list mine and discuss. It’ll be good for us…I mean..me!!!
Most of these stem from always longing for that special car and then finally getting one. Now, if you pick up a “project” car, then chances are you aren’t going to get where I am until at least you have it running, driven it around a while, and developed that special bond. You know the bond I’m talking about, where you’ll do anything to spend time with it. Like, take the long way to work even though you might be a couple of minutes late or the “Sure honey, I don’t mind running to the store for you for the 14th time today. ” I don’t mind missing a little of the game.” That bond.
I bought both of my cars in very good to excellent condition. The Mustang was my almost daily driver, even when it was just a 6 banger, and the Vette replaced my Celica as the daily driver..by design. So, I developed the bond pretty quickly.
This bond drives “fear”, yes, I said it…”FEAR”. Fear that something might happen to the car, a crazy fellow driver, a knucklehead in a parking lot, the old guy that leaves his shopping cart in the parking spot next to you on a windy day. All truly horrible, truly.
But there is one thing worse: breaking the beloved thing yourself. It’s like accidentally stepping on your pet’s paw or knocking your child down while playing basketball. It can actually make you feel ill…right? Are you all following me? CAN YOU DIG IT? (from the movie Warriors).
Remember, I’m the Average Guy. I have a basic skill set; you won’t find me (Yet) pulling the tearing down an entire working engine. At least not alone and even then with much trepidation. I can’t image being deprived of driving my dream due to circumstances within my control; that’s just NUTS!!!!!
If you are on a limited budget, this multiplies the fear 120 fold…AT LEAST. You break it….you have to wait to get it fixed. Then your significant other is going to AT LEAST mention how much it might cost (over and over and over). “The commentary in this blog relates to a fictitious individual; any similarities or assumed similarities that might point to an actual person are merely coincidental and not intended to be projected onto my very understanding spouse.” (Love you..Honey!!!) (pst..how was that…pretty good, huh?..Yeah, that should cover my butt…JUST fine. Of course we have a very nice couch!!!)
